In-vivo imaging methods, such as performed by an in-vivo imaging system including a swallowable capsule, may be used to image body lumens within a patient. The imaging system may capture and transmit, for example, images of the GI tract to an external recording device, while the capsule passes through the GI lumen. The capsule may capture images in variable frame rates of, for example, 1-40 frames per second. Large numbers of images, for example 100,000 to 300,000 images, may be collected for viewing during the imaging procedure, which may be performed in a duration of one to eight hours, and may be viewed and/or processed in real time. The images may be combined in sequence, and an image stream or movie of, for example, 30-120 minutes in length, may be presented to a user.
The small bowel (also called small intestine) is a part of the GI tract, connecting the stomach with the large intestine. The length of the small intestine in an adult is variable, and depending on the conditions can measure from 3 to 8 meters. The main function of the small bowel is the digestion and absorption of nutrients and minerals found in the food. In order to do so, the small intestine pushes the food through by the means of a physiological mechanism called motility.
Intestinal motility can be divided into two categories: peristalsis, e.g. synchronized movement of the intestinal wall responsible for moving the food in one direction; and independent contractions, e.g. unsynchronized movement of the intestinal wall where the muscles squeeze substantially independently of each other, which may have the effect of mixing the contents but not moving them up or down.
Image analysis may be performed, for example in order to reduce a physician's viewing time of the captured image stream, or to improve the efficiency of review. A summarized presentation of the image analysis may be displayed using a graphical user interface. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,215,338, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses in some embodiments methods of generating and displaying a summarized color bar presentation, which includes a series of summaries of color data of one or more images from a data stream. US Published Patent Application 2015-0016700, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses in some embodiments a system and method for displaying motility events of a patient's GI tract for improving intestinal motility analysis and assisting diagnosis of intestinal motility disorders, by selecting a strip of pixels from each image and arranging the strips to form a motility events bar.